Anderson Kill, led by Robert M. Horkovich, recently obtained a landmark victory on May 16, 2005.  A Riverside County, California jury found in favor of the State of California and against CNA, Wausau, Yosemite, Horace Mann (ACE), and Stonebridge Life Insurance Company.

The jury determined that there is coverage for the State of California for the clean-up of the Stringfellow Acid Pits.  The jury rejected all coverage defenses raised by the insurance companies including "willful acts" under Section 533 of the California Insurance Code, concealment and lost policy defenses.  The jury found that CNA, Wausau, Yosemite, Horace Mann (ACE) and Stonebridge each breached their insurance contracts with the State.After judgment and monetary damages are entered in favor of the State of California for the clean-up of the Stringfellow Acid Pits for the insurance companies' breach of contract, the case now will proceed to resolution of the State of California's bad faith claims against CNA, Wausau, Yosemite, Horace Mann (ACE), and Stonebridge again by jury trial in Riverside, California.The trial lawyers for the State of California were Lead Supervising Deputy Attorney General Darryl L. Doke from Sacramento, Deputy Attorney General Don Robinson from Los Angeles, Bob Horkovich, Robert Chung, and Cort Malone from Anderson Kill & Olick in New York, Roger Simpson from Cotkin Collins & Ginsburg in Los Angeles, and Dan Schultz from Tempe, Arizona.The jury trial began on March 21, 2005.  Jury deliberations began on May 12, 2005.There have been numerous settlements by other insurance companies of the State of California's Stringfellow claims before the trial.  Lloyd's, Fireman's Fund, OneBeacon, Unigard, Chubb, Peerless, Highlands, St. Paul, TIG, Hartford, and others all settled prior to the jury trial.  AIG and General Re/North Star settled during the jury trial.  The State of California will receive in excess of $121 million in settlements from the insurance companies that settled rather than suffering the adverse jury verdict.The non-settling insurance companies that suffered the adverse jury verdict were CNA, represented by Steve Crane and Barbara Hodous of Berkes, Crane, Robinson & Seal in Los Angeles, Wausau represented by Bryan Barber of Barber Law Group in San Francisco, Yosemite represented by John Peer and Jeffrey Dollinger of Woolls & Peer in Los Angeles, Horace Mann (ACE) represented by Alan Berman and Steve Haskell of Berman & Aiwasian, and Stonebridge Life Insurance Company represented by Carey Moorehead and Craig Hunter from Wilson Elser Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker in Los Angeles.To view the article written by Roberto Ceniceros in the May 23, 2005 issue of Business Insurance entitled "Cleanup Liability Verdict Could Help California, Others Tap More Coverage", click here.To view press release, "The State of California Wins Jury Trial.  Jury Determines There Is Coverage For The Stringfellow Acid Pits, Rejects All Coverage Defenses Including "Willful Acts", Concealment and Lost Policy," please click here.